Exhaustion
by kishioshizuka
Summary: The world is a little different today, Seijuurou finds, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.


**Exhaustion**

_The world is a little different today, Seijuurou finds, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing._

Exhausted.

He has to admit that he is rather unlike himself today. His red and gold eyes are open, sharp, of course, but there is something that is tinting the world he sees a soft pastel, a blurring of edges that by no means is dulling his perception, but is, strangely, casting a tender light on everything in front of him.

It isn't, he thinks reluctantly, a bad change, but an uncomfortable one nevertheless, which is perhaps why he is soothed, more than usual, y the arrival of Tetsya. The head of powder blue hair makes it way toward him, where he is positioned at the back of the lecture hall (another change, but Seijuurou feels his condition today unsuitable to a session of active participation).

Pale skin set aglow in the faint morning light, Kuroko Tetsuya, elusive as some supernatural being, appears to dance his way through the crowd, locks of hair bouncing in such delayed motion that they seem suspended in mid-air.

Seijuurou produces a sharp nod of head in greeting, not without effort, as a light tremor, unnoticeable to anyone but himself, naturally, runs down the back of his neck and arm with the action.

"Tetsuya."

"Good morning, Akashi-kun." Tetsuya tilts his head to the side, baby blue eyes considering. They widen as if their owner has come to a surprising conclusion.

"You're ill." The blunt observation, intoned without any rise in voice, nevertheless gives off a wondering air.

"Do not be silly, Tetsuya. I am merely fatigued from the exams," Seijuurou replies tersely, displeased with the implication of weakness in his person.

Cool dry skin is suddenly pressing against his forehead. Seijuurou peers at Tetsuya around the shadow of the latter's fingers, not unhappy with the physical contact but irritated, nonetheless, at the other's absurd behavior.

"Tetsuya-"

"You have a fever," the blunette says plainly.

Without waiting for reply, Tetsuya begins to throw all of Seijuurou's possessions, which had been laid out orderly on the desk, into his sack.

The same cool hands wraps itself around the red head's own and pulls Seijuurou out of his seat.

"I am perfectly well, Tetsuya. I will not be missing class for such a silly reason," Seijuurou bites out, once he has pulled himself out of reveling in the soothing coolness of Tetsuya's touch.

Tetsuya frowns at him and remarks, uncharacteristically acidic (at least when speaking to him), "Akashi-kun, you aren't even walking straight."

Tetsuya is being absurd. Seijuurou is, of course, capable of walking by himself. It is simply more pleasant for him to lean on Tetsuya, to smother his face in the fresh scent of shampoo of Tetsuya's fly away hair, to feel the whole expanse of Tetsuya's cool skin lined up against his-

He must be quite exhausted, because the world, even more than half an hour ago, seems tinted with the color of cherry blossom. The sky, the trees, the sun which is slowly saturating the blue around it orange, the concrete and brick buildings, the few people walking around, all of which has been drained of color and replaced with pink, leaving only Tetsuya untouched, his ivory face clean of contamination except for the faint blush, his blue hair vivid in its unaltered color against the back drop of rosy hues, his eyelashes dark against his cheek…

He may be more tired than he has previously thought, because when he has come to at last (when he suddenly becomes aware of the absence of pink and light altogether around him), they are already back in the apartment they share.

"Tetsuya-"

A finger is pressed against his lips. "Shh, Akashi-kun. Just relax and let me take care of you."

He is pushed down, back against the softness of blankets on their neatly-made bed. A puffy pillow cushions his head, which, he must admit, feels rather heavy this morning, and Tetsuya combs a hand through crimson strands (which has grown long again; Seijuurou needs to schedule an appointment with his hairdresser soon, since his parents have banned him trimming his own hair) and carefully, slowly rises from the bed.

Seijuurou hears unsettling noises in the kitchen and wonders what Tetsuya hopes to achieve (both of them are, admittedly, unaccustomed to cooking). As he drifts to and from unconsciousness, the noises eventually dim and disappear, and moments later Tetsuya reappears with a bowl in his hand.

"Here, Akashi-kun. Open your mouth, please." Tetsuya's soft voice has taken on a far-off quality.

Tetsuya is ridiculous, because Seijuurou can feed himself. But he sound very far away, and Seijuurou is too exhausted to waste energy arguing with him, so he allows the indignity of being hand-fed.

The porridge is warm and thick, lightly seasoned. Seijuurou cannot comment much on the taste (mostly because it truly doesn't taste like anything, besides a flavor vaguely salty), but it slides down his throat pleasantly enough.

Tetsuya pulls the bowl away and places it on the bedside table, running his hands through Seijuurou's hair again.

"Please rest and get better, Akashi-kun."

_Go to class_, Seijuurou wants to command him. _I am neither sick nor require babying, _he wants to elaborate. But the words are stuck in his throat (it isn't anything so undignified like he is unable to speak, but more like his body has decided that it will not exert more effort than it absolutely must), so Seijuurou lets his eyes close.

Even in the darkness he can feel Tetsuya's presence, soothing and cool, by his side.

When he wakes up (a brief glance at the clock next to the door indicates that it is five in the afternoon), he is amused to find the sleeping figure of Tetsuya next to him. He seems to have started in some sort of napping position in the chair that has been placed near the bed but has migrated, sometime through the course of the hours, onto the bed, his head burrowed into the crook of Seijuurou's neck.

It's a nice place to be, and despite the trouble he will have to go through tomorrow to finish all the work he has scheduled to do today, Seijuurou doesn't regret taking the day off. He looks down at the peaceful expression on Tetsuya's face and decides that, indeed, it isn't a bad change after all.


End file.
